Through these Silver Eyes
by luv2read134
Summary: Let's take a look at how our favorite silver-eyed dark knight sees the world, shall we? Different scenes from Tithe and Ironside from Roiben's POV.
1. The Only Thing I Want

**I recently discovered the wonderful world of faeries in the book Tithe, and fell in love with it. I think we should hear more from Roiben in the books, though, so I decided to write this fic, which is a series of moments from Tithe and Ironside from his POV. **

**This chapter starts a little bit before page 22 of Ironside and goes to page 26.**

**Enjoy!**

Rath Roiben Rye sat on the throne, surrounded by chattering members of the Unseelie Gentry. They had been blabbering on for what seemed like hours, but he couldn't see what was so important. Everything crucial about the coronation had been discussed in the first two minutes of this meeting. Besides, he had already been King of the Unseelie Court for two months – this coronation was merely a formality. But, since he was King, he did his duty and hid his boredom, pretending to listen to listen to these creatures drone on.

His thought of the "diplomacy visit" from his sister that had preceded this meeting. He thought about what she had implied.

_For my brother. I cut it when he died. _

That had hurt coming from her, which he had not expected. He had believed that he had lost the ability to be hurt, to love, to _feel, _long ago.

But that was obviously not the case, as the conversation had shown. As Kaye showed him everyday. He smiled at the thought of her, throwing a nod to the small hob who was still speaking in a monotone, as if he were paying attention. Kaye proved to him every day that he could still feel. Sometimes, like today, it hurt. But when he was with her, he relished the emotions she brought up in him.

The only feeling he had _lost _was his love for the Queen of the Seelie. His mind went back to his conversation with Ethine.

_Nothing about her tempts me._

And he was pleased to find that he was not lying in the least. Well, no faery could tell an untruth, but he had not even had to bend the words to fit his meaning. He felt nothing for Silarial anymore, except resentment for what she had done to him. Yet, in a twisted way, he was thankful she had done so, for if she had not, he would still desire her, answer her every back and call, and follow her around like a lovesick puppy. And if he had not been sent to serve Nicnevin, he would not have met Kaye. Yes, in some ways, though servitude to Queen of the Night Court had been terrible and, according to his sister, had changed him and hardened his heart, but it may have been a blessing in disguise.

But that didn't mean he would forgive Silarial for what she had put him through.

He turned his attention back to whomever it was that was standing before him. "Do you agree, sire?"

"Yes, yes," he mumbled distractedly, rising out of his seat. "Now I believe it is time I returned to my chambers."

"But your majesty –".

He ignored the hob, sweeping past him with Ruddles and another servant following behind.

As he walked through the familiar halls to his chambers, he reflected on the fact that, for so long, he considered these same walls his prison. And now, here he was, about to assume the position of King of the Night Court.

King of a court of monsters.

Roiben wished he didn't have to assume this responsibility, that he could go back to his home. But the truth was that he had to take the throne. It was his duty. He had to rid the world of Silarial and her twisted ways. Ways that she hid behind a façade of innocence. Even if he did not feel obligated to do so, he would not be welcome back in the Bright Court, no matter how much Silarial said otherwise. And if he returned, she would assume him to be her consort. And he would not take that position, no matter what.

Still deep in thought, he entered into his sparsely furnished chamber to find a figure in his bed.

Kaye.

She looked beautiful in her sleep, he green hair spread across his pillow. Her expression caused him to freeze in his tracks. Usually, her face was full of cleverness and witty words. But in sleep, that was wiped from her face, leaving only innocence behind.

_Lovely._ That was the word that came to mind.

For a moment, he was overcome by the idea that she belonged here, with him. He allowed himself to wonder, for a moment, what would happen if he told her about declarations. If he asked her to declare herself to him. She could be his consort. She could stay here and live with him. That way he could be with her more often, even with his busy schedule as Lord of the Night Court.

He tried to banish the thoughts. He would never do that to her. He would not bind her to the Unseelie Court as he had been bound to it. She deserved better.

He walked to the edge of the bed and sat next to her. He was filled with longing once again as he looked down at her. He wanted her to be in his bed every night – for purposes not so innocent as sleeping. Nevertheless, he worked to keep his expression impassive for the benefit of Ruddles and the servant, who were still standing at the door.

He touched her arm gently, causing her to jolt out of her slumber. She sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. As she rose, the coverlet that had been covering her slipped a bit, revealing the olive green shirt she wore. He was startled for a moment – the green matched her skin, and, for an instant, he thought she had not been wearing a shirt at all.

He banished the thought from his mind, not allowing himself to wander down that tantalizing train of thought, as a new one entered. How long had she been here? Long enough to fall asleep, obviously. Why hadn't anyone informed him?

He frowned, and words tumbled out of his mouth of their own accord. "Nobody told me you were here."

He regretted it immediately afterward, as her cheeks heated up and she grabbed her jacket, stepping off the bed. "I should go."

He felt an ache in his chest at the thought of her leaving him, especially when he had offended or hurt her.

"No." He gestured to the servants. "Leave us."

They complied, exiting the room and leaving him alone with Kaye.

"It's late. Your thing is going to start soon."

That statement hurt him – she was grasping at straws to get away from him. What had he done?

"Kaye, you have no idea what time it is." He stood and reached for her arm. "You've been asleep."

She didn't allow him to touch her, stepping back and digging her nails into her palm. He sighed sadly.

"Stay. Let me beg your forgiveness for whatever it is I've done."

"Stop." Her voice was sharp. She shook her head before speaking, her words rushed. "They don't want me to be with you, do they?"

He didn't need to ask whom she was referring to, smiling bitterly instead.

"I am forbidden nothing."

"No one wants me here. They don't want me near you. Why?"

He was startled, not expecting her to ask. "Because I'm Gentry and you're…not," he finished lamely, catching himself before he told her the true reason: she had been raised by humans. Her ways were those of the Ironsiders. Though her antics amused him and pulled him deeper under her spell, his court looked down on her ways, thinking of her as ignorant. He knew they whispered and gossiped about her and why he was with her. They thought of her as nothing more than a dirty pixie with bad manners.

Though the assumption angered him, he did not act on that anger. That would accomplish nothing, except advertise to everyone that he cared for her. That she was the weak link in his armor.

She spoke dully, turning away from him. "I'm low class. Nothing new there."

Roiben walked toward her, pulling her against his chest and speaking against the skin of her neck. "I have my own thoughts on the subject. I care nothing for anyone else's."

She relaxed into him for a moment, causing him to wonder if she had doubted it – had she thought he would not want to be with her simply because of what the members of his court thought?

Kaye turned in his arms. "What's the big deal about you slumming?"

He snorted at her human choice of words, letting his hand rest on the curve of her hip but averting his eyes, not wanting to meet hers as he told her.

"It is a weakness. My affection for you."

She opened her mouth as if to speak but closed it again, scanning his face. He didn't know what she found there, but it caused her to pull away.

"I really should go. I'll see you out there. Break a leg."

He let go of her reluctantly. "You cannot stand on the dais during the ceremony nor walk in the procession. I do not want you to be taken for part of my court. Above all, you must not swear fealty. Promise me, Kaye."

Her expression shifted. "So I'm supposed to act like I don't know you? Like you don't have any _weaknesses_?"

He realized his mistake. "No, of course not, he answered quickly, though it was partly true. But he did not want her to be under the misapprehension that he thought of her as a weakness. She was a blessing to him. But if the enemy found out about the depth of his affection for Kaye and got their hands on her, he knew he would do anything they asked. Anything to keep her safe.

"You are the only thing I have that is neither duty nor obligation, the only thing I chose for myself." He paused for a moment before continuing. "The only thing I want."

A small, teasing smile crept onto her face. "Really?"

He snorted, shaking his head. "You think I'm being absurd, don't you?"

"I think you're trying to be nice. Which is pretty absurd."

For a second he wondered if she was right, if it was absurd when he tried to be kind. Had the life in the Unseelie changed him that much?

He didn't linger on it, instead walking to where she stood and pressing his lips to hers.

Why would anything about Silarial tempt him, he wondered as he lost himself in the kiss, when he had Kaye?

**Well? Hit or miss?**

**I wrote this for myself, and I'm not expecting that many reviews (because the Tithe fandom is so darn small! I'm telling everyone I know about it though, so hopefully we'll see more writers!) **__**But I'd still appreciate it if you took the time to leave me a review (flames welcome).**

**Luv2read**


	2. The Declaration

**Thank you to those who reviewed (all seven of you)! LOL, I think that the Twilight fandom has spoiled me – there are tons of people there who review. (BTW, if you read Twilight fanfiction as well, please check out my other stories!)**

**Anyway, on with the chapter. Pages 41-43 of Ironside: The Declaration. Enjoy!**

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Rath Roiben Rye sat on the grand birch throne, drumming his fingers in meaningless rhythms to keep himself occupied as he surveyed the Host of the Unseelie Court that were before him. He was officially their King now, like it or not. He suppressed a shudder at the thought.

His eyes wandered, looking for the one person he most wanted to see. He didn't see her, but he recognized Lutie-loo's small form as she darted up to him. He laughed and cupped his hands so she could land.

Lutie sounded like a petulant child telling on another who had done something wrong. "She drank all the mushroom wine," she told him, pointing an accusing finger at Kaye.

"Indeed?" He raised an eyebrow. "Will she come and sit beside me?"

"Sure," Kaye replied, sounding shy. He tried to figure out why, but could think of nothing to explain the action. "How has it been?" she asked.

"Endless." He allowed himself to thread his fingers in her hair, as he had once wished he could do, at the time of the Tithe.

_He wondered idly what it would be like to braid that hair as he had once braided his sister's._

He was still playing with her hair when she did something he could never have expected. Suddenly and without warning, Kaye swayed forward and fell to her knees before him.

His eyes widened in fear and panic. What was she doing? Whatever it was, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good. He opened his mouth to speak, to stop her, but he was too late. She had already started to talk.

"I, Kaye Fierch, do declare myself to you. I…I love you. I want you to give me a quest. I want to prove that I love you."

His fingers tightened on the arms of the throne, causing the age wood to groan in protest.

He wanted to say so many things to her. He wanted to tell her he loved her too. That she didn't have to prove anything to him. That he desperately wanted to grant her a quest, to be able to have an official claim on her so no one other than himself could ever lay a finger on her.

What had she done? He wanted, more than anything, to give her a simple quest, to allow her to be his consort.

His voice sank to a whisper. He was oblivious to the others in the room, speaking only to Kaye. "To allow this I would have to have a heart of stone."

She shook her head stubbornly. "I want to make a declaration. I don't know the formal words, but that's what I want."

Why was she tempting him further? In his mind, he implored her to _please _drop the subject. The words that would make her his forever were on the tip of his tongue.

_Kaye Fierch, this is the quest that I grant. Bring me an apple from the banquet table and you shall sit beside me as my consort._

_Kaye Fierch, this is the quest that I grant. Bring –_

No. He stopped the thought in its tracks. He would not bind her to the Unseelie Court as he had been bound. He would not subject her to that.

"No. I will not allow it."

There was a hush, and he felt hopeful for a moment. She had not spoken the formal phrases. There was a chance that –

His hope was dashed as Ruddles spoke. "I have recorded it. It has been spoken. You must not dishonor her quest."

He nodded morosely, knowing that arguing would do more harm than good, and stared into the distance for a long moment.

This was it. He knew what he must do. His limbs felt as heavy as lead as he walked to the edge of the platform, looking down at the girl he loved.

"Kaye Fierch, this is the quest that I grant. Bring me faery that can tell an untruth and you shall sit beside me as my consort."

The silence lasted only for a split second before shrieking laughter rose from the crowd. He knew why they were laughing, what they thought: they knew he had been involved with her unofficially. So when he gave her an impossible quest and denied her the chance to be his consort, they came to the conclusion the he didn't really care for her – that he was merely using her.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. His heart was a stone in his chest as he desperately scanned her face, trying to commit her visage to memory. This was it. The final time he would see her.

Her expression suddenly grew alarming, and he jumped from the platform to catch her before she fell. She seemed especially frail and delicate in his arms, like a porcelain doll.

Looking down at her, he was suddenly seized with anger. Who had told her about declarations? He would slaughter them for taking her away from him. He knew he only had precious seconds left with her. Those few treasured moments would be his last to see her. And he would use them to make her a promise. His final promise.

He leaned close to her, whispering in her ear. "I promise that if I find who put this idea in your head, they will pay for it with their own."

As she blinked heavily and slipped into unconsciousness, he vowed that he would do whatever it took to keep that promise. And as Ruddles had a bogan and a puck carry her away, he prayed that she would not hate him for what he had done.

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**Done! Please review (flames welcome).**

**The next chapter is super long, but I already have it all typed up and ready to go. The more you review, the faster I update!**

**Luv2read**


	3. The Negotiation

**Huge thank you (once again) to everyone who reviewed. I replied to all of them.**

**But for the anonymous reviewer Cheshire Cat: LOL. Your review made me laugh. Thanks so much! Le woot! (I officially love that phrase now).**

**I'm a bit confused, guys. I get reviews telling me that this is awesome and I need to update soon – but then the people don't put me on alerts. Am I missing something? How are you going to know when a new chapter is up if you don't have the story on alerts? (Thank you to those who already do.)**

**This chapter would have been up earlier, but you have no idea how much crap I had to go through to get this to you. My internet's a spaz, my USB (the **_**only **_**place I had this saved) broke, my Spanish teacher is the devil, school is killing me, exams are going to be super hard, one of my best friends is moving, my grandparents are coming, I had to shift to a new room (on the bright side, it's super cute!), basically all of my grade went on a trip to Florida but I was stuck at school doing boring stuff (except for Friday. That was actually pretty good – we watched movies all day and they gave us snacks), and the list goes on and on…**

**Enough of my rambling. Pages 196-211 of Ironside: The Negotiation**

**Enjoy!**

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Rath Roiben Rye ducked under the braches that formed Silarial's chambers. Seeing the peaceful land where he grew up once again reminded him of how much things had changed.

No, that wasn't right – nothing here had changed. It was still the peaceful land of his youth, full of lush greenery and laughter and the age-old smell of freshly picked ripe apples. _He _had changed. He was no longer the knight who would have been overjoyed at the prospect of being invited into the Bright Queen's chambers. No, he was dreading this visit. If he never saw Silarial again, it would be too soon.

But he must. He had to save his court. Yes, he loathed them and their wicked ways, but it was his duty as the King. And his hate for them was nothing compared to the way he despised Silarial. At least those monsters were honest about their intentions; they did not hide behind a curtain of feigned virtue and purity.

He entered the chamber, his pale eyes quickly scanning the room. The human attendants were lined against the wall along with a table piled with different types of wines and drinks. And there, in the center of the room, Silarial was lazily stretched across her cushions.

She looked up at him as he walked in, giving him a glance that once would have made his knees go weak. Now all he felt was disgust for himself for ever feeling that.

_He remembered that when his Bright Lady glanced at one of her knights, it was like the sun shone for that knight alone._

"Ethine tells me you will not agree to my conditions."

"I did not think you expected me to, m –".

He stopped abruptly, realizing what he had been about to say and hoping that she had not picked up on it. Of course, he had no such luck.

Silarial laughed. "You nearly called me 'my lady', didn't you? That's a habit in need of breaking."

He looked down, his mouth twisting, but not in amusement. "Indeed. You have caught me being foolish."

"Nonsense. I find it charming."

He gritted his teeth when he heard her use the word 'charming' to describe him. After everything she had done, she had the nerve to think he was _charming_?

She did not deserve to be able to call him that. Or any other term of endearment. Not after what she had put him through.

She swept a regal hand toward the attendants. "You must be parched for a taste of the changeless lands of your youth."

A human clothed in blue stepped forward, taking some wine in her mouth and kneeling before him, tilting her head up so he may drink.

"Drink," the Bright Lady said, her eyes glittering with laughter. She knew as well as he did that he did not want to kiss this girl, even if only to drink. There was only one person in the world he wanted to kiss, and she was not present. She couldn't be, because of what he had done. She could never be near him again. He would never get the chance to kiss her again. He would never even get the chance to _see _her again. And even if he did, it would not be to kiss her. It would be to beg her forgiveness.

He looked back at the human, knowing he must humor Silarial, play along with her games. He imagined Kaye's face instead of the girl's. Her green hair, black eyes, quick grin…

Roiben leaned down and pressed his lips to hers gently, taking the wine from her mouth and pulling back afterwards.

"Decadent." He settled back on the cushions, focusing on appearing relaxed and at home. "Do you know what I really miss though? Roasted dandelion tea."

Silarial sent the girl back, and Roiben drank again, wishing the Bright Queen would merely offer them cups in which to drink.

"So tell me," Silarial said after he had taken a sip, "What conditions do you propose?"

"You must risk something if you wish me to risk everything."

"The Unseelie Court has no hope of winning a battle. You should take whatever I offer and be grateful for it."

"Nonetheless, if I lose the duel against your champion, you will become sovereign of the Unseelie Court, and I will be dead. Quite a lot for me to wager against your offer of transient peace, but I do not ask for equal stakes. If I win, I ask only that you make Ethine Queen in your place."

There seemed to be a glimmer of something in Silarial eyes, but he could not be sure. As quickly as Roiben saw it, it was gone.

"Only? And if I don't agree?"

He leaned back into the cushions. "Then war, winnable or no."

Her eyes narrowed, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You have changed from the knight that I knew."

He shook his head. "Do you recall my eagerness to prove myself to you? Pathetically grateful for even the smallest regard. How tedious you must have found me."

"I admit I find you more interesting now, bargaining for the salvation of those you despise."

He laughed, but there was no happiness in the sound. It was thick with Roiben's self-loathing. Self-loathing at the fact that Silarial had hit the nail on the head.

"But perhaps you despise me more?"

Once again, she was precisely right. But he could not say that. He looked down at his fingers as they played with his onyx cuff.

"I think of the way I longed for you, and it makes me sick." He looked up at her, knowing he still had to play the games. "But that doesn't mean I've stopped longing. I yearn for home."

Now it was her turn to shake her head. "You told Ethine you would never step down from being Lord of the Night Court. You would never reconsider your position. You would never serve me. Is that still true?"

"I won't be as I once was." He gestured to the attendants. "No matter what I long for."

"You have said that nothing about me tempts you. What of it?"

Now he must seriously bend the truth if this was to work – if he was to make her believe he was in her power.

He forced a smile. "I told Ethine to tell you that. I never said it."

"And is it so?"

He knew what he must do now, even though he was dreading it. He walked to where she reclined and knelt before her.

"I am tempted."

_To kill you._

He reached toward her, and his hand trembled with the intensity of his loathing.

It was all her fault. All of the pain he had suffered was caused by her. She had sent him Nicnevin. She had pretended to love him then thrown him away. And now, now that he had finally found someone he loved, someone _worth _loving, she and her idiotic war had ripped them apart.

Silarial leaned forward to press their lips together. He forced himself to stay in place and not jerk away. This felt _wrong. _Like he was cheating on Kaye, betraying her trust. And he hated it.

He tried to do what he had done with the human, pretended he was kissing Kaye. But he found that he couldn't. Kaye's kisses were special. They meant something; they were heartfelt. This was nothing – just lust. And as much as he tried to pretend and assuage his guilt, he could tell the difference.

The first kiss was short and chaste, but he reacted to the second.

He cupped her skull and bent her, wanting more than anything to break her in half. Every injustice – to himself, to others – flooded his mind, followed by the familiar anger at the fact that she assumed she had power over him, that he was her toy to play with and manipulate as she liked.

He was sorely tempted to increase the force he was putting into the kiss. It would be easy. All he had to do was put a little pressure on his hand and crush her skull, break her neck. And she would never be able to hurt him again. He wouldn't have to worry about her trickery and treachery. It would be over. As simple as that.

But, as much as he wanted to, he did not. Her knights would surely kill him as soon as he did. And while death did not sound like a bad course of action, he had responsibilities.

He drew back and saw the hunger in her eyes. Another stab of fury shot through him at that. She only wanted him physically, but cared for him not at all. He was merely a diversion, something to amuse her – but easily expendable.

The anger was accompanied by a jolt of smugness at the sight of blood on her lip. He had hurt her. Good. She deserved much worse. Let her think he had done it out of desire, though nothing was further from the truth.

He watched warily as she stood. "You must want me to agree to your terms very much." She spoke lightly, but Roiben heard the unsteadiness in her voice.

"Ethine would very probably give you back your crown were she to win it."

"If you should defeat my champion…" she paused and placed a white hand on his cheek. He forced himself not to flinch away from her touch. "If you should defeat my champion, you will regret it."

He half-smiled.

"But I will grant you your boon. Ethine will be Queen if you win. See to it that you do not win."

She let her hand drop and walked to the bowls of liquids. "Of course, all this negotiating matters not at all if you will merely join me. Leave the court of those you detest. Together we can end this war today. You would be my consort –".

Never. He would never be the Bright Queen's consort, and he told her so. "No. I told you that I won't –".

"There is someone here with the means to convince you." He stood suddenly as the words sunk in and realization hit him. He whirled toward the wall of human girls. At least, they _looked _human. But he knew that one of them was Kaye.

His eyes scanned their hands, looking for the telltale marks that he knew would be there.

His gaze stopped on a girl who looked unfamiliar. But he knew it was her.

"Kaye." His voice was anguished. He had only dreamed of seeing her again, but he had not imagined it like this. And now, after what she had just seen, she would hate him even more than she already did.

She wouldn't make eye contact with him, dropping her gaze to the floor instead.

"How did you guess?" Silarial sounded puzzled.

He walked to her and touched her arm, but she shifted away. "I should have guessed sooner." Silarial would never invite him here if she did not have some advantage up her sleeve. "Very clever to glamour her so thoroughly."

"But how did you choose her from among my other maidens?"

He took her delicate hand into his, reveling in the warmth of her skin after all this time. He turned it over so the Queen could see the red half-moon indentations in her flesh where Kaye had dug her nails into her hand. "It was that, really. I don't know anyone else with that particular nervous habit."

With that one sentence, he tried to convey to her everything he couldn't say in front of Silarial.

_I love you. Enough to know your nervous habits. Enough to pick you out from among other maidens when you're disguised. More than anything else in the world. Please believe me._

She looked up at him, and he tried to plead with his eyes.

Apparently, it didn't work. She snatched her hand away and rubbed it against her skirt as if she could rub away his touch. That small action spoke volumes to him, and he felt as if someone had just plunged a dagger into his heart. He should have expected the pain, but it hurt him nonetheless.

"You're not supposed to see me until I can solve your stupid riddle." Roiben heard the venom in her tone, and he knew he deserved it.

He spoke softly. "Yes, I deserve whatever scorn you heap upon me. But what are you doing here? It's not safe."

"This is where I belong, isn't it? This is where I came from. The other Kaye is home now, like she always should have been. With her mother, Ellen." He could hear the hint of sadness in her tone, though she seemed to be unaware of it.

He was furious. _No, _he wanted to shout, _you don't belong here; you belong with me. _

But he could not. He couldn't do that to her, put her in danger that way. She didn't even want to be with him. She hated him.

"What did Silarial make you promise for that?" She did not do anything without a price. And he hated, with every fiber of his being, the fact that Silarial had power over Kaye because of it.

She didn't answer his question. "It must suck to love her, since you don't trust her at all."

There was a silence in which he looked at her in desperation. He wanted so badly to tall her that he didn't love her. Not at all. He _hated _her. Kaye was the only one he would ever love. He wanted to repeat it to her until she finally believed it. He wanted to fall to his knees and beg her to believe him, to let him prove himself. He wanted to tell her that he would go to the ends of the earth to prove that love. He wanted to tell her that he would throw himself under a bus if it would make her happy. That he would do _anything _to make her happy. _Anything_ to have her beautiful smile directed at him. _Anything_ to have her love again_. _He wanted to say those words more than anything.

But he didn't. It no longer mattered what he wanted to do.

_Let our new Lord also be made from ice._

"It doesn't matter what he thinks of me or of you," Silarial said, coming close to where they stood, her words soft. "Use his name. End the war."

Kaye smiled. "I could, you know. I really, really could."

_I know. _

With one simple sentence, she could condemn him to another life of servitude.

But he did not think she would. She was too kind, even if she did hate him.

"Will you rule over me, Kaye? Shall I bow to a new mistress and fear the lash of her tongue?" he asked softly, suppressing a shudder. He had vowed to be his own master, to never let anyone control him.

Yet the next words out of her mouth could send him back to servitude.

She was silent.

"What if I promise that I won't use the name, won't even repeat it?" Silarial said. "He would be yours alone to command. Your toy. I would just advise you how to use him."

Kaye still said nothing, and Roiben realized that she may actually do it.

"Kaye, I…" He closed his eyes. "_Don't"_. He spoke with despair, knowing that she very well may. He deserved it. But did she really hate him that much? Could she really hate him as much as he hated Silarial?

_Yes. _

What they had done was basically the same. They had given those who declared themselves an impossible or difficult quest. A quest that would undoubtedly cause pain.

Silarial leaned close to Kaye's ear, and he could barely discern what she was saying. "You must command him, you know. If not, I would threaten your mother, that human boy of yours, your changeling sister. You would be persuaded. Don't feel badly about giving in now."

Would Silarial's threats never end? Roiben knew that, on top of all the pain he had caused Kaye, he would not be worth the lives of all those she cared about.

"Say you won't repeat it," Kaye said. "Not just 'if I promise', the real oath."

Silarial's voice remained a whisper. "I will not speak Roiben's true name. I will not bid him with it, nor will I repeat it to any other."

"Rath Roiben," Kaye started. He flinched, bracing himself for what was to come, his hand going to the hilt of his sword but staying there, his eyes still tightly closed. _Rye. _He waited for her to say the word and make him her prisoner.

_Please. Please don't say it. _

He knew that, no matter what she promised, Silarial would find a way to exploit his true name.

_Please, Kaye._

"Riven. Rath Roiben Riven, do as I command."

He glanced at her quickly, his eyes widening with hope. She wasn't going to do it.

But as he watched, her smiled turned cruel.

"Lick the Queen of the Seelie Court's hand, Rath Roiben Riven," she said. "Lick it like the dog you are."

Just those words were enough to make him feel as if his heart was being ripped apart.

_Lick it like the dog you are._

_The dog you are._

That was what she thought of him. _A dog_.

How could he have betrayed her trust like this? Made her hate him so? All he had ever wanted to do was protect her, save the thing dearest to him.

He went down on one knee. He almost rose before he remembered himself. He must do as she said, or else Silarial would know it wasn't his true name. He drew his tongue over her palm, feeling ashamed and disgusted.

She laughed lightly, wiping her hand against her gown. "Lovely. Now what else shall we make him do?"

Roiben looked up at Kaye, and she smirked.

"I deserve this," he whispered. "But, Kaye, I –"

"Tell him to be silent."

"Silence," Kaye said.

He obeyed, lowering his eyes and falling silent.

"Command him to pledge his loyalty to me, to be forever a servant of the Seelie Court."

He heard Kaye's barely audible intake of breath. His face was grim, waiting to see if she would do as Silarial said.

She shook her head. "I'm not done with him yet."

The Queen frowned, obviously not expecting this answer.

"Rath Roiben Riven. I want you to–"

A scream tore through the air, and Silarial took a few steps away from them. Roiben tried to seize the opportunity to apologize, to explain, to do _something, _anything, to regain her trust.

"Kaye–" he began.

A group of faeries pushed their way under the canopy, his sister among them.

"My Lady," a boy began before stopping, stunned at the sight of the King of the Unseelie Court on his knees. "There has been a death. Here."

"What?" The Queen glanced toward Roiben.

"The human–"

"Corny!" Kaye yelled, panic evident in her voice. She tore through the curtain of willow branches and took off running in the direction that the others were going.

Roiben followed after her, as did the Queen and her entourage. They reached the crowd that had formed to see Talathain pointing a crossbow at Cornelius.

Kaye stopped abruptly, and she looked so relieved that even Roiben felt glad.

She knelt in the pale dirt by Cornelius, then looked up and talked quietly to a dark-skinned human boy who had her purple jacket draped around his shoulders. Roiben felt a stab of jealousy, yet another emotion tugging at his heart. Who was he? Had Kaye moved on to someone else so quickly?

But, looking closer, he thought he recognized the boy from somewhere. He looked somehow familiar…

In a flash, it hit him. This was the boy that had accompanied the human girl to the Unseelie Court. He remembered her bravery now, and the way he had seemed afraid of the fey.

He scanned both of their expressions minutely, trying to discern if there was anything going on between them. In his heart, he prayed that there wasn't. He had no claim on her anymore, but he desperately wanted it. He didn't want anyone else to be able to snatch her up. He didn't want anyone to take her away from him.

_She wasn't even his to steal away from._

But as he watched their expressions change, he noted with relief that the looks they shared were merely those of camaraderie. He let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding, turning to his knights. He felt his sister's gaze on his back as he talked to Ellebere and Ruddles, but he ignored it.

"You promised Corny would be safe," Kaye said to Silarial. He turned his attention to her. He could see that she was scrambling for time, for an excuse that would get them out alive.

"He _is _safe," came the Queen's sharp reply, "while one of my people lies dead."

She said nothing in reply to the accusation, instead standing and walking away from her friend. "We're going."

If Kaye wanted a diversion, he would give it to her.

"Let them go," he said to Silarial.

Talathain turned his crossbow toward Roiben. "Do not presume to command her."

Roiben laughed and drew out his sword slowly, daring Talathain to fire. He felt the anger rushing back to him, and he welcomed it and the clarity it brought. The rage pushed back the shame he still felt. "Come. Let us make another corpse between is two."

Talathain reached for his own blade, drawing it out. "Long have I waited for this moment."

They circled each other warily, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Let me fight him," Dulcamara said. He smiled and shook his head. Turning back toward Kaye, he mouthed "Go", then swung at the Seelie knight in front of him.

Their blades clashed together as they advanced and retreated. Roiben's concentration was on the fight, but he dimly heard Silarial speak. "Stop them. Order him to stop."

"Roiben," Kaye yelled. Unlike Silarial's voice, which sounded to him as if it was coming from a great distance away, hers was crystal clear. He went as still as a stone. If she wanted him to stop, he would. Could it mean that she still felt something for him, that she did not want him hurt by Talathain's blade? He tried to quell the hope rising in him, knowing that it would only complicate matters. Talathain lowered his weapon as well, but he did it regretfully.

The Queen walked to where he stood and ran a snow-white hand over his cheek before looking back at Kaye. "If you want to leave here with your friends, you know what you must order him to do."

Kaye nodded and walked toward them. He braced himself for what was to come, hating Silarial for using the people Kaye cared about against her. She stopped by Ethine, and Roiben could almost see the gears in her head turning rapidly as she tried to think of a solution. He never expected what she did next, though.

She drew a knife from the folds of her dress and held it to Ethine's neck.

He heard his shocked voice call her name, along with half a dozen others. His blood ran cold as the scene sank in.

"Corny! Get up! Luis, help him!" He saw her swallow hard. "We're leaving right now."

The Bright Lady was no longer smiling; she looked stunned. "There are things I could –"

"No!" Kaye shouted. "If you touch my mother, I'll cut Ethine. If you touch Luis's brother, I'll cut Ethine. I am going to walk out of here with Luis and Corny, and if you don't want her hurt, you and all of yours are just going to let me."

"My Lady," Ethine gasped.

Anger filled him again, but this time, it was directed at Kaye. How dare she threaten his sister? She had no right. A small part of him whispered that she was just trying to save the people she loved, but the bigger part screamed that he could not let her hurt his sister, no matter what the cost.

Talathain pointed his sword at Kaye, twisting it like a promise – and a part of him wanted to do the same.

"Let the pixie and the humans through. But I think she will regret it," Silarial ordered.

Silarial waved her hand and swept away the glamour covering Kaye. In an instant, she was back to the familiar pixie form he knew. For a second, she seemed lightheaded and she looked as though she might stumble. Normally, he would have helped her, but he made no move toward her now.

"Not with my sister. Not my sister, Kaye. I won't let you." His voice was cold and deadly, a tone he had not used with her since the night of the Tithe.

"Rath Roiben Riv –" she started. He cut her off. He wasn't going to stand by and pretend he was in her power while she threatened his sister.

"That's not my name." There were gasps from the other fey, but he ignored them, his gaze focused solely on Kaye.

She looked him square in the eye and spoke, the fury in her voice enough to make another knight flinch back. But he was not just an ordinary knight. He would not have lasted as long as he did in Nicnevin's court had he been. "You can't stop me. Try, and I _will _command you," she spat at him.

Looking into her eyes, he knew she wasn't bluffing. She would do it. So, against all his instincts, he stayed where he was.

They marched past, making their way to the end of the island. Roiben watched with cold eyes and a heavy heart as they trudged by. Kaye and Ethine were possibly the only two people in the world that he cared about at all. And now, they were both walking away, disappearing from sight.

Questions swirled through his head. _Kaye_ had done this? She had threatened his sister? What had happened to the kind, brave girl he fell in love with? Had her hate for him swallowed her up to the point where she would do anything to hurt him? Was she going to follow up on her threat? How was Ethine going to get back? Where had they gone?

He turned, walking to his tent, where the other fey could not see him. He let himself fall into the grass, putting his head in his hands. He didn't know what to think anymore.

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**Phew! 4,489 words (not including A/N's). I think all my effort deserves some reviews… (Please?). **

**There is a small problem that has come up for this story: I don't own these books. I'm borrowing them from the library, and I have to return them. I would renew them, but it's the school library and school is closing. So please give me a few weeks to get the chapters from Tithe to you – I will go and check it out from the public library as soon as I can. But I will write them, I promise. I have the next three chapters already written, though (that's all of the scenes from Ironside – I typed furiously for days to have them ready before I had to turn in the books) so that gives me a cushion of time so I don't keep you guys waiting. :) Thanks for your understanding!**

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	4. The Completion of the Impossible Quest

**Yes, I suck for not updating in so long. I'm sorry - please forgive me. I'm trying to juggle real life and four stories. I hope this chapter will make it up to you. **

**Page 280-288 of Ironside: The Completion of the Impossible Quest**

**Enjoy!**

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Rath Roiben Rye was talking to a fey woman, an exile of the Seelie Court. She was slim as a wand, her black hair knotted into a flamboyant jeweled cloak that matched her tail, also cloaked in jewels.

He leaned forward to hear what she was saying as she gestured wildly. "My sisters and I are extremely strong, a very good asset to your side. Offer us a high position in your court and we may agree to join you."

He spoke calmly. "I do not think you are in a position to be making bargains. You and your sisters are exiled fey. You are under no court's protection, and you are forced to live in the iron stink of the city as it slowly kills you. I am offering you another option. You would be wise to take it."

"Our post in the Seelie Court was very high – we do not wish to be demoted in your Court. Keep in mind you are asking us to fight our Queen. It is not an easy decision for us – you must make it worth our while."

He resisted the urge to snort, knowing she was just bluffing to negotiate – they had no love for the Bright Lady. Quite the contrary. "The same Queen that exiled you and forced you into the city. Do not try and negotiate with me to feed your thirst for power. We both know that you should take my proposition with pleasure. This is your last chance. I will not offer again."

"And if we do not agree?"

He looked at her impassively. "You will hurt only yourselves – this deal benefits you more than it does me. The Unseelie Court already has many supporters among the exiled fey."

Her shoulders slumped as she admitted defeat. "You have bested me, Lord Roiben. I agree to your bargain. I pledge myself and my sisters to you as servants of the Unseelie Court. We will aid you in your battle against Silarial."

He shot her a quick grin in victory. "I knew you'd see my side."

She did not reply as he dismissed her with a wave of his hand, but her expression told him that she did not appreciate being told what to do.

He grinned. Well, there was nothing she could do about it.

He turned suddenly and took in the creatures that had gathered for the duel. He wondered, for the millionth time, what could have possessed Silarial to offer him this duel. To accept his terms so easily, she must have some trick up her sleeve. But he could not for the life of him figure out what it was.

He turned back to Ellebere to give him last minute instructions about the battle and the exiled fey, when something half-fell in front of him. Something green with black eyes. Kaye.

He looked down at her, crouched in the dirt as she tried to recover from her fall. "You," he said. His voice sounded detached and devoid of emotion, when he was anything but. Feelings swirled through him suddenly and violently at the sight of her, all of them conflicting.

He was glad to see her, relieved that she was fine, worried about her and what she was doing in the midst of all the danger, and angry at her – how dare she show her face after what she had done to Ethine?

Eventually, the latter won out over all the others.

Ellebere grabbed Kaye's wrists and wrenched them roughly behind her back. He saw her wince, but said nothing. "This is no place for a pixie," Ellebere declared, looking down at Kaye with distaste.

Ruddles pointed towards her with one gnarled hand. "To stand before our Lord and King, you must have completed your quest. If not, custom allows us to rend you –"

"I don't care what custom dictates," Roiben declared, waving off the chamberlain. He knew as well as anyone what they wanted to do – they wanted to kill her. But he would not allow that. He told himself it was because he had to ask about Ethine, but a part of him knew he still felt for her. He was almost afraid of the power she held over him, even now, after everything that had happened.

"Where is my sister?"

"Silarial's got her," Kaye said, her words pouring out in a rush. "Ethine's what I came to talk to you about."

He was not appeased, glaring at her. She shrank back from his gaze, and he noted a hint of fear in her eyes. It filled him with a strange smugness as well as sadness. A part of him _wanted _her to be afraid of him - and the other wanted her to trust him unequivocally as she had before.

"My Lord," Ruddles piped up again. "Though I would not choose to contradict you, she may not remain in your presence. She has not completed the quest you bestowed on her."

"I said leave her!" His words came out in a shout.

Kaye spoke again. "I can lie." She looked nervous, but she said the words with conviction. "I am the faery that can lie."

A hush fell over those who were assembled as her words sank in. They looked to each other and back to Kaye in astonishment. She shouldn't even have been able to utter those wrods in the first place.

"That's nonsense." The words came from Ruddles. "Prove it."

"Are you saying I can't?"

"No faery can tell an untruth."

"So," she exhaled, her breath rushing out. "If I say I can lie and you say I can't, then one of us must be telling an untruth, right? So either I am a faery that can lie, or you are. Either way, I have completed my quest."

"That reeks of a riddle, but I see no fault."

A choked sound left Roiben's lips, a cross between a laugh and a sob.

She had done it. She had completed the impossible quest. She was his now, just as he was hers. They were consorts, now until the time of their deaths. Everything he had done to protect her, everything he had put her through, put _himself _through, was in vain.

His mind tried to sort through the whirlwind if thoughts that hit him, but only one stood out as he looked down at her.

He realized he still loved her. He had never stopped loving her. Not really. Yes, he was mad about the fact that she threatened his sister, but a part of him understood that she was trying to protect people she loved. He realized that he had used the Ethine issue as a front – something to be mad at her about so he wouldn't feel as guilty about giving her an impossible quest.

Or not-so-impossible, it would seem.

"Clever." Ruddles gave her a toothy grin but patted her on the back. "We accept your answer with pleasure."

Roiben's voice was soft as he spoke again. "I suppose you have succeeded, Kaye. From this moment, your fate is tied to the Unseelie Court." He internally cringed at the words. "Until the time of my death, you are my consort."

"Tell them to let me go." Her voice had a hollow quality to it, and he could see she was not happy or excited about her victory.

"Since you're my consort now, you may tell them yourself." He could not meet her eyes as he said the words. _My consort. "_They ought not to deny you now."

Ellebere did not need any prompting to drop Kaye's arms. She turned to him and Ruddles. "Go." Her voice broke on the word.

They looked to him, waiting for his nod before obeying.

"Why have you come here?"

She looked desperate for a moment, as if she wanted to say something very badly. "Look at me. Why won't you look at me?"

"The sight of you is a torment." He raised his eyes and looked at her in time to see the hurt flit across her face. "I thought if I kept you out of this war, it would be the same as keeping you safe. But there you were, in the middle of the Seelie Court as if to prove me a fool. And here you are again, courting danger. I only wanted to save one thing, just one thing, to prove there was some good in me after all."

And she _was _the good in his life. She made everything happier and less somber. She proved that he was capable of loving, of being loved, of being trusted. And he wanted to live up to her trust.

"I'm not a _thing_," she told him with a hint of petulance in her tone.

He closed his eyes, covering them with a cold hand. "Yes. Of course. I shouldn't have said that." She wasn't an object, a prize to be won and displayed. She was a person, a girl to be loved and protected and cherished.

She took his hands in her small, callused warm ones. He kept them limp, letting her pull them away from his face.

"What are you _doing _to yourself? What's going on?" There was desperation in her tone once again.

"When I became King of the Unseelie Court, I thought we could not win the war. I thought that I would fight and I would die. There is a kind of mad glee in accepting death as an inevitable cause."

"Why? Why bind yourself to such a miserable fate? Why not just say 'screw this, I'm going to make birdhouses,' or something?"

Another time, he may have laughed at her human words, but not today.

"To kill Silarial." He felt a kind of demented happiness at the mere thought. "If she isn't stopped, no one will be safe from her cruelty." He took this opportunity to explain the kiss that she had seen, to set things right with her. "It was so hard not to crush her neck when I kissed her. Could you tell it from my face, Kaye? Did you see my hand tremble?"

She looked shocked. "Then why did you kiss –"

"Because they're my people." He swept a hand over the expanse in front of him, taking in the creatures. "I want to save them. I needed her to believe I was in her power so she might agree to my terms." A feeling of dread crept up his spine as he thought about how she would have taken it. "I know it must have seemed–"

"Stop," she commanded, not letting him finish. "I came here to tell you something. Something I figured out about the battle."

He raised a brow, wondering what it could be. Could she have figured out Silarial's trick, her secret weapon? He knew that if Kaye was here to tell, it was probably true. She had been right countless times before. He prayed that this time was no exception. "What is it?"

"Silarial's going to choose Ethine as her champion."

He laughed, but the sound came out as a sob, short and terrible.

He wondered why he hadn't thought of it before – it was typical Silarial. It fit her personality perfectly, to make her choose between killing his sister or letting himself be killed. No wonder she had been so anxious after Kaye had threatened Ethine. She needed her for the plan to work. He should have known – Silarial cared for no one but herself.

"Call off the duel. Find some excuse. Don't fight."

"I wondered what terrible thing she might set against me, what monster, what magic? I forgot how clever she is," he murmured, more to himself than her.

"You don't have to fight Ethine."

He shook his head. "You don't understand. Far too much is at stake tonight." His mind was made up. He knew what he was going to do.

"What are you going to do?" she asked sharply, as if she was reading his mind.

"I'm going to win. And you would do me a great service if you told Silarial I said so." _Let her know her tricks will not work this time._

He shouldered his scabbard. "I think it's time you went, Kaye." He paused for the smallest moment before continuing. "I won't ask you to forgive me, because I don't deserve it. But I did love you." He looked down. Who was he trying to fool? "I do love you."

"Then stop doing this. Stop not telling me shit. I don't care if it's for my own good or whatever stupid reason –"

"I _am _telling you shit." She laughed suddenly, presumably at the sound of him cursing, especially when his diction was usually so formal and respectful. He gave a small smile back, understanding what was funny.

The smile stayed on his face as he reached out to touch her face. He stopped himself at the last moment, afraid to touch her for fear she would disappear, turning out to be an illusion, a mirage, a trick of his mind. And even if she was somehow real, he didn't want to touch her, to give himself hope of ever being with her again. Not everything could go well tonight. He would try his best, but he did not know what would happen. He did not dare more than to trace her hairline, his fingers brushing the soft wisps of hair softly, never once coming to rest. She shivered under his hand, from the cold of his hands or his touch itself, he didn't know.

"If you really can lie," he said softly, "tell me this will end well tonight."

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**Please review (flames welcome).**

**Guys, how do you think I'm doing at capturing Roiben's personality? I'm trying to walk a fine line – keeping it canon while not just repeating the dialogue in the book, which would be really boring. Please give me your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks.**

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	5. The Fight

**Thanks to CurlyHairedDisaster and Daughter of the NIght, who review every chappie. :)**

**Pages 288-304 of Ironside: The Duel. Enjoy!**

Rath Roiben Rye stepped pat the icy graves as the cold wind blew harshly. The weather matched the mood perfectly, the overcast sky matching the color of his armor. His knights flanked him as he walked to the place of the duel, where Silarial waited, her own knights standing near her.

Roiben bent low to the ground, while the Queen made a shallow bow.

He cleared his throat, mindlessly saying the formal words, his mind racing as he thought of a plan. It was now almost solid in his mind, but he double-checked and triple-checked mentally, making sure Silarial had no openings from which to foil him.

"For decades there has been a truce between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. I am both proof of and witness to that old bargain, and I would broker it again. Lady Silarial, do you agree if I defeat your champion, you will concede a concord between our two courts?"

"If you deal my champion a mortal blow, I so swear. If my champion lies dying on this field, you will have your peace."

"And do you also have further wager in this battle?" he prodded, noting she had left out the part about giving up her crown.

She smiled, but the sight was not beautiful to him as it once was. Now it was sinister and evil, plotting. "I will also give over my throne to the Lady Ethine. Gladly will I set the crown of the Seelie Court upon her head, kiss her cheeks, and step down to be her servant if you win."

He kept his face impassive as the now-familiar anger boiled to the surface.

Treacherous snake. She intended to do no such thing. He should have guessed sooner – she would rather die than give up her throne. She was much too hungry for the crown and the power it brought with it.

"And if I die on the field of battle, you shall rule over the Unseelie Court in my place, Lady Silarial. To this I swear." But not if he could help it. He would not die here.

"And now I must name my champion," Silarial said, a sinister smile slitting her face. "Lady Ethine, take up arms for me. You are to be the defender of the Bright Court."

Ethine shook her head, saying nothing, while the crowd began to whisper and murmur among themselves.

"How you must hate me," he said. The words were soft, but they seemed to float over the crowd, carried and fanned out by the breeze.

"Go," he told his knights, watching as Silarial turned back to the safety of the sidelines and her people gave Ethine armor and placed a sword in her limp grip. He could see the uncertainty in the faces of his court as they questioned his loyalties. They need not worry – he would not let Silarial win this.

Hobs scattered herbs to mark boundaries as Roiben unsheathed his sword. It shone cruelly in the light as he made a bow.

"You don't mean to do this," his sister told him. It came out like a question.

"Are you ready, Ethine?" he asked her, bringing his sword up as if she had not said anything at all.

She shook her head. A pang of protectiveness and pity resonated in his chest as he saw her shiver convulsively, tears running down her cheeks. He pushed it back, knowing that Silarial was playing on those emotions.

Ethine dropped her sword. "Pick it up," he told her, his voice patient. He was reminded of the time when they were children when he had taught her how to climb trees. She had fallen many times, but with his help, she was soon scrambling up the tallest oaks with ease.

Their blades clashed together, shining like water. Ethine staggered back, her sword overbalancing her slight frame.

Roiben wanted to stop, but he knew that he would not really hurt her. He just needed to beat her. But he was holding back, not swinging as hard or as fast as he could.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaye talking to Silarial, who looked very sure of herself. So. She thought he wasn't going to win. Well, he would prove her wrong.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent Ethine's sword flying. There was a cry from the audience as Ethine fell to the snow. He held the tip of his blade at her throat as she struggled to get up. She looked afraid and desperate. He smiled down at her kindly, trying to appease her.

Now, Silarial looked worried, he noted with glee. He made sure his words were loud enough to carry over the field. He wanted her to hear this, loud and clear.

"Since it seems that the crown of the Bright Court will come to you _after _your death, tell me upon whom you wish to bestow it. Let me do this one last thing for you as your brother.

He saw the Queen, her face full of rage as she leapt up. Beside her, Kaye looked immensely relieved. He wondered if she thought he would have killed Ethine without a thought. No, he was not that heartless. He would try everything else before it would come to that.

"Hold!" Silarial shouted as she came towards him. "That was not part of the bargain." The herbs burst into green flames, as they were charmed to do whenever someone entered the field before the end of the duel.

Wailing rose from his court as hers stayed silent. Roiben stepped back from Ethine, letting his blade fall from its position n her throat. She fell back, turning her head into the snow to hide her face.

"Neither was your interrupting this fight," he said coolly. "You may not reconsider our bargain now that it no longer favors you," he added, knowing that she would try to bend her own rules.

It was his court's turn to stay quiet as murmurs rose from the Seelie.

Ethine stumbled, trying to get to her feet. He reached out a hand to help her, but she did not take it. Her eyes were full of hate as she looked at him. The sting of pain at that was lessened by the fact that the emotion stayed in her eyes as she looked toward Silarial. She wordlessly picked up her sword, clutching it so hard that her knuckles went white.

"My oath was that the crown would go to Ethine if you killed my champion. I did not promise she could choose a successor." Her voice was shrill with the realization that she may be forced to give up her precious throne.

"That was not yours to promise. What is hers in death, she may give with her last breath. Perhaps she will even pass it back to you." After the way that Ethine had looked towards her mistress, he knew that possibility was slim. "Unlike the Unseelie crown that is won by blood, the Seelie successor in chosen," he continued, knowing full well that she was aware of this and angered by the fact that he was telling her about it.

"I will not have my crown bestowed on one of my own handmaidens, nor will I be lessoned by one who once knelt at my feet. You are not one part what Nicnevin was."

_Once. Once knelt at your feet. Never again._

"And you are too much like her," he replied, questioning how he could have ever loved this woman, yet hated Nicnevin. They were so alike – how had he not seen it during the days of his knighthood?

Three Seelie knights strode toward their mistress as she spoke again.

"Were our people to fight, even now, I would win. I think that gives me leave to dictate terms."

She thought that her court could overpower his easily, that he would buckle under the threat. How little she knew. This time, he was the one with the trick up his sleeve.

"Will you void our agreement, then?" he asked, knowing the answer but wanting her to say it out loud so all may hear it. "Will you stop this duel?"

"Before I let you have my crown!" she spat.

That was the answer he was looking for.

"Ellebere!" he shouted. The knight knew his part well, drawing out a wooden flute from his armor and blowing three notes on to it.

On cue, fey of all types began to move. Merfolk drew themselves onto the beach as faeries stepped out from behind buildings and trees and graves. There was an ogre, a troll, a horde of goblins. The exiled fey had come to stand behind him.

Shouts came from the crowd as the Night Court and solitary fey moved to surround Silarial and her people, but he ignored them, focusing on the Bright Lady's shocked expression.

'You planned an ambush?" she demanded.

"I've been making some alliances," he said, trying to hide a smile at how incredulous she seemed. Did she think she was the only one who could plot? "Some – many – of the exiled fey were interested to know that I would accept them into my court. I would guarantee their safety even, for a mere day and night of service. Tonight. Today. You are not the only one with machinations." He couldn't resist throwing in the last sentence.

"I see you have played to some purpose," she said. She looked at him in a new way, as if she didn't know who he was.

And she didn't. She had never really known who he was. She hadn't bothered to find out, so she only knew the old Roiben, the knight who had been desperately in love with her. That Roiben would have fallen for this trick, but that was not who he was anymore.

She continued, and he could see her trying to figure out _why _he was doing this. "What is it? For what do you scheme? Ethine's death would weigh on you and the stain of her blood would seep into your skin."

He knew she was right – his conscious would never let him sleep at night had he gone through with it. Yet, he had been planning to had this failed. For a moment, he wished he were still the knight who wouldn't have gone through with it. He wished he was honorable enough to let himself be killed. But he was not only thinking of himself – what he wanted mattered not at all.

"Do you know what they wish for you when they give you the Unseelie crown?" he asked softly, secretively, remembering his coronation. "That you be made of ice. What makes you think it matters what I feel? What makes you think I feel anything at all? Now surrender the crown to my sister."

"I will not," she proclaimed defiantly. "I will never."

"Then there will be a battle," he proclaimed, his words confident and sure. "And when the Unseelie Court is victorious, I will snatch that crown from your head and grant it as I see fit."

He would give it to someone responsible and kind, someone he could trust to rule with care. A thought flitted into his head in the space of a second.

_Would Kaye like to be Queen of the Seelie?_

He did not dwell on the question or the complications it posed.

"All wars have casualties." She nodded towards somebody in the crowd. He followed her line of sight to see Talathain's hand come down on Kaye's cheek and her side. He saw her pressure of his hand, making her wince as he dug his fingers into her skin. There was unrestrained terror in her eyes, even as she tried to tone it down. He could see her mind racing as his did the same.

Talathain's fingers squeezed Kaye cruelly. They pressed down on the soft skin of her hip and cheek. He wanted to pull out his sword an threaten him – he knew his fingers would leave bruises.

He couldn't let them hurt her. Never. How was he going to get out of this? He wanted to run Silarial through right there, and then merely let her Court cut him down. But his responsibilities weighed down on him. It didn't matter what he wanted.

"Make one move, make one command," she said, a sinister smile playing over her lips as she turned to look at Kaye, "and she will be the first."

He couldn't move against Silarial for fear of what she would order Talathain to do to Kaye. He turned to the Seelie knight instead. He knew Talathain – he was honorable. Surely he wouldn't do this. He couldn't kill an innocent girl merely because his Queen had told him to.

"Ah, Talathain, how you have fallen. I thought you were her knight, but you have become only her woodsman – taking little girls to the forest to cut out their hearts."

He saw his fingers dig harder into Kaye's flesh, making her gasp. That little sound caused his heart to squeeze in his chest. She was in pain. He had to help her.

So. Talathain had become another puppet in Silarial's game. He would have to find something else, some other advantage.

"Now give up your crown, Roiben," Silarial said, her eyes shining with triumph. "Give it up to me as you should have when you got it, as fit tribute to your Queen."

"You're not his Queen," his sister said, her voice sounding dull and numb. "And neither are you mine."

The Bright Queen spun toward her, a look of fury upon her features at the statement. Ethine plunged the blade that she was still gripping into the Bright Queen's chest.

Roiben saw the blood pool onto the frosting-white dress that she was wearing. The blood fell to the snow, looking as though someone had scattered brilliant rubies on the ground.

Silarial fell, her face full of surprise.

Talathain shouted at the sight. Roiben himself was in shock at the action of his sister, but not so much that he did not notice with anger the way Talathain roughly pushed Kaye to the ground, causing her to land on her hands and knees.

The knight stepped over both of the bodies, stepping toward Ethine, his sword held aloft. He swung his hand downward while Ethine stood there, undefended.

His instincts kicked in, and he stepped between the blade and his sister, catching the blow on his back. He felt a sharp pain from his shoulder to his hip, causing him to let out a gasp as he fell, pinning Ethine underneath him.

He rolled off of her, shifting into a crouch as he faced the Seelie knight, who was now kneeling beside his mistress. He stood stiffly, acutely aware of the pain shooting through his body.

Ethine's frame shook with the force of her sobs as Talathain looked at her. "What have you done?" he demanded.

His sister tore at her hair and dress in a frenzy until Kaye caught her hands, stilling them.

"He did not deserve to be used so," she said, her voice thick with tears but also mixed in with hysterical laughter.

"It's done," Kaye said, her voice soothing, as if she were reassuring a child. He saw through her façade, though, seeing the fear still present in her eyes.

"Come on. Stand up, Ethine," she coaxed.

Roiben cut the circlet from the dead Queen's head, chunks of her bright copper hand coming into his hand.

"That crown is not yours," Talathain said, though his voice lacked any conviction. He looked to the assembled creatures, no doubt comparing Roiben's forces to those of the Bright Court.

"I was just getting it for my sister," he said, suddenly feeling very tired.

He held it out to Ethine, but she shuddered at the sight. "Here," he said, picking off the hair and ice that covered it. He wiped it on his breastplate to clean it, but it came away red. His brow knitted before he saw the blood that was running down is arm and soaking his armor.

"Put your puppet on the throne. You may make her Queen, but she won't be Queen for long."

Ethine shivered again, her white face even paler. "My brother needs his attendants."

"You brought her flowers," he said to Talathain. "Don't you remember?"

The other man's face was hard, his eyes cold and full of hate. "That was a very long time ago, before she killed my Queen. No, she won't rule for long. I'll see to that."

He was stunned. Talathain had loved Ethine for as long as he could remember, much before he had even mustered the courage to give her flowers. He pined for her and loved her. And now – none of it mattered? He had simply stopped loving her, because of Silarial. Was he that mindless, that his adoration for the Queen overcame any other emotions?

_Had he been like that?_

He couldn't imagine not loving Kaye, for any reason. Even when she had threatened his sister, he had still loved her.

He spoke slowly, still puzzling over this. "Very well. If you would not swear loyalty to her, perhaps you will kneel and swear your loyalty to me."

"The Seelie crown must be given – you can not murder your way to it," the knight said defiantly, holding him at swordpoint.

"Wait," came Kaye's voice as she pulled Ethine up. "Who do you want to get the crown?"

Talathain didn't waver. "It doesn't matter what she says."

"It does!" Kaye shouted at him. "Your Queen made Ethine her heir. Like it or not, she gets to say what happens now."

His chamberlain strode to the field. Roiben did not miss the quick smile he gave Kaye as he passed her. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Ruddles, indignant that anyone dare smile at _his _girl.

He pushed the thought out of his mind, telling himself he was being ridiculous. It was just a friendly gesture, Ruddles's way of showing the newfound approval of Kaye which he had developed since she completed the quest.

Ruddles cleared his throat. "When one court ambushes and conquers the gentry of another court, their rules of inheritance are no longer applicable."

"We'll be following Unseelie custom," Dulcamara purred, delighted at the prospect.

"No," Kaye said defiantly – and rather bravely. He couldn't help the swell of love and pride as he looked at her. "It's Ethine's choice who gets the crown or if she keeps it."

Ruddles started to protest, but he was cut off. "Kaye is correct. Let my sister decide."

"Take it. Take it and be damned," his sister told him hollowly.

Roiben was surprised at this. His fingers traced over the symbols on the crown, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that it was _his. _He was king of both courts now. "It seems I will be coming home after all," he said, the words sounding strange in his mouth.

Talathain took a step toward Ethine, and Kaye dropped her hand, seeming to tense up for his swing.

"How can you give this monster sovereignty over us? He would have paid for his peace with your death."

"He wouldn't have killed her," Kaye proclaimed, her voice strong and confident. His heart squeezed a little at her trust. He knew he didn't deserve it. If worst came to worst, he would have. But he was immensely relieved it had not come to that. He didn't think he could bear the sight of Kaye's face when he betrayed that trust.

Ethine looked away. "You have all turned into monsters."

"Now the price of peace is merely her hatred. That I am willing to pay," he said, ignoring the feelings that accompanied the statement.

"I will never accept you as King of the Seelie Court," Talathain spat, not giving in.

Roiben raised his hand and set the circlet on his brow.

"It is done, whether you accept it or no," his chamberlain said.

"Let me finish the duel in your sister's place. Fight me," he demanded.

"Coward," Kaye spat, her eyes narrowing. "He's already hurt."

"Your Bright Lady broke her compact with us," Dulcamara said. She turned to him. "Let me kill this knight for you, my Lord." He knew she was thirsty for bloodshed, but he ignored her.

"Fight me!" Talathain demanded again.

Roiben nodded. He lifted his sword from the blood-splattered snow. "Let's give them the duel they came for."

They circled each other slowly. He was filled with a sense of déjà vu as he remembered the events after his negotiations with Silarial. He had started to fight Talathain the, too. But this time, they would not be stopped. There would be a victor and a loser.

And he was determined to be victorious.

The other knight slammed his blade down, but Roiben parried, sending the other knight back.

Talathain danced at the edges of Roiben's reach. He knew Talathain was trying to tire him. He saw a drop of blood run down his arm and fall off the tip of his sword, melting the snow beneath.

"You're wounded," the Seelie reminded him. "How long do you really think you'll last?"

"Long enough," he replied, determined to cut him down.

He saw Kaye on the sidelines, looking worried and unsure as she watched anxiously.

Roiben fought desperately. He was no longer fighting Talathain – he was fighting himself, what he might have become. He would have been a knight who pined for his mistress, willing to throw away one who truly loved him for her. And it was not worth it.

"Silarial was right about you, was she not? She said you wanted to die."

"Come and find out," he taunted, knowing that the statement was untrue. He had considered it, yes, but if was dead, it meant he couldn't be with Kaye.

He swept the blade through the air rapidly, making the air hiss. Talathain parried but recovered fast and thrust toward him.

He grabbed the other's pommel, forcing the sword up and using the opportunity to kick his feet from under him. He fell n the snow.

He stood over him, pointing his blade at the knight's throat and forcing him to go still.

"Come and get the crown if you want it. Come and take it from me." There was a plea as well as a threat in his words. He didn't want this crown, he didn't want this responsibility. But he had to, no matter how much he just wanted a quiet, peaceful life with Kaye.

Talathain didn't move.

Two of his court came forward and disarmed him.

"You'll never hold both courts," he said, struggling to get to his knees.

Roiben swayed a little, and Kaye put her arm under his. He hesitated before leaning against her. She nearly stumbled backwards before regaining her footing.

"We'll hold the Bright Court just as your mistress would have held us," Dulcamara purred, drawing out her knife and pressing the point to his cheek. "Pinned down in the dirt. Now tell your new Lord what a fine little puppy his cleverness has bough him. Tell him you'll bark at his command."

Ethine stood stiffly, closing her eyes.

"I will not serve the Unseelie Court. I will not become like you."

Roiben wished he wasn't like himself either. He wanted to be someone better, someone worthy to be King. Someone worthy of Kaye. He resolved that he would be – he would do everything in his power to be just and fair.

"I envy you that choice."

"I'll make him bark," Dulcamara said.

"No. Let him go," he ordered. Dulcamara looked surprised before her face fell at the fact that she would not get to slit any throats today. Talathain was already on his feet, pushing his way through the throng.

"Behold our undoubted Lord Roiben, King of both the Unseelie and the Seelie courts. Make your obeisances to him."

Roiben teetered again, his injuries catching up to him. Kaye tightened her grip on him and he remained standing. He surveyed the crowd.

His voice was all breath when he spoke again. "I'll be better than she was," he vowed, pulling Kaye closer to his side.

He would be someone who was worthy of her.

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**Hit or miss? Please review (flames welcome).**

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	6. The End

**This is the last chapter from Ironside! Enjoy!**

**Page 317-321 of Ironside: The End**

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Rath Roiben Rye stood at the edge of the water, taking a deep drink from the bottle of champagne he was holding. The breeze blew his loosed pewter hair around him, covering most of his face. He looked over the water as the waves thrashed in the ocean. It was so vast and powerful, yet even the sea was not its own master – the tides were determined by the moon. She sat in the sky above, surveying the land coldly. If even the ocean was not truly free, was anyone? Was it possible to serve only yourself, to be so powerful that no one could control you?

He didn't think so. There would always be something, _somebody_, that would be used against you.

He heard someone walk up behind him. From the sound of the footsteps, he knew it was Kaye. She stopped next to him, pulling a small object from her pocket. She put it in her mouth and blew on it, causing the checkered paper to unfurl with a squeak.

He smiled, and she gave a small groan.

"You really are a terrible boyfriend, you know that?"

He couldn't agree more. But, then again, he hadn't had any experience or any models to follow. "A surfeit of ballads makes for odd ideas about romance."

"But things don't work like that," she told him, snatching the bottle away from it and taking a sip. He had to shake himself to focus. Damn, she even _drank _prettily. How was that even possible? Someone would think that, after all this time, he would have gotten used to it, but apparently not. He drank in her every movement, making up for all the moments he had missed them so much. "Like ballads or songs or epic poems where people do all the wrong things for the right reasons.

"You have completed an impossible quest and saved me from the Queen of the Faeries," he said softly. "That is very like a ballad."

She didn't address his claim, but the way she answered told him that she didn't think of herself as a hero at all, though she was in his eyes.

"Look, I just don't want you to keep hiding things from me," she said, handing him the bottle, "or hurt my feelings because you think it's going to keep me safe, or sacrifice yourself for me. Just tell me. Tell me what's going on with you."

He took the champagne and slowly tipped it, letting it drop onto the snow. It fizzed and stained the ground pink. If she wanted him to tell her what he was feeling, he would. He owed her so much more.

Roiben debated internally for a moment, trying to decide what to say, how to phrase it. "I taught myself to feel nothing. And you make me feel."

Her breath was a cloud in the cold night air when she spoke again. "That's why I'm a weakness?" she asked, referring to their conversation in his chamber. It seemed like so long ago.

"Yes." He looked out to the darkened sea, seeing in reflect the image of the moon, its mistress, on the surface. He turned back to Kaye. "It hurts. To feel again. But I'm glad of it. I'm glad of the pain."

He would take all the pain in the world if it meant he got to keep her. She took a step closer to him as he continued.

"I know I failed you." He felt miserable just saying the words. He had promised himself he would always keep her safe and happy. "In the stories when you fall in love with a creature –"

"First I'm a thing, now I'm a creature?"

He laughed; she always knew a way to ease off tension. "Well, in the stories it is often a creature. Some kind of beast. A snake that becomes a woman at night or someone cursed to be a bear until they can take off their own skin."

She looked faraway for a moment, as she was thinking of something. "How about a fox?"

He frowned, wondering why she had chosen that particular animal, and what she was thinking of. "If you like. You're crafty enough."

"Yeah, let's say a fox."

"In those stories, one is often asked to do something unimaginably terrible to the creature. Cut off its head, say. Not a test of love, a test of trust. Trust lifts the spell.

"So you think you should have cut off my head?" She grinned.

He rolled his eyes. He should have known she could never be serious for long. Just one of the things he loved about her.

"I should have accepted your declaration, whether I thought it was wise or no. I loved you too much to trust you. I failed."

"Good thing I'm not really a fox or a snake or a bear. And good thing I'm sneaky enough to figure out a way around your dumb quest."

_Yes, very good thing._

He sighed. "Once more I mean to save you, and yet you come to my rescue. If you hadn't warned me about Ethine, I would have done exactly what Silarial expected."

She looked at the ground, then suddenly held looked back at him, seeming to realize something. "I made you something." From her pocket, she pulled out a bracelet of a green braid that was wrapped in silver wire.

"This is your hair?" he asked after a moment of surveying it. It was delicate and simple, but finely done, not crude in the least. It held a simple kind of radiance that so many people attempt everyday, but few succeed at. Kaye was one of those few.

"It's a token. Like from a lady to a knight. For when I'm not around. I was going to give it to you before, but I never quite got around to it.

He ran his fingers over the cool surface and looked at Kaye. "And you made it? For me?" he asked, astonished.

She nodded, and he held out his wrist to her.

Fireworks went off as she clasped it on him. She turned her attention to the sky as the golden showers rained down and lit up the dark background.

She looked back at him to find him still looking at his wrist where the cool metal sat. No one had ever given him something like this before. No one had cared enough to give him something like this. He was touched by the gesture. It was personal, and it reminded him of Kaye – simple and beautiful. He couldn't believe she had made it for him.

He thought back to her words as she presented it to him. He looked up. "You said it's for when you're not around. Will you not be around?"

She didn't answer immediately, and he began to get worried. _Please stay around._

"How will you rule both courts?" she asked.

He shook his head, noting that she had not answered his question and worrying about what that could mean. "I'll try to keep one foot on each side, balance on the knife edge for as long as I can. There will be peace so long as I can hold them. Provided I don't declare war on myself, that is."

"Is that likely?" she joked.

"I must admit to a good deal of self-loathing," he answered with a smile.

"I was thinking of opening a coffee shop," she said quickly. "In Ironside. Maybe help people with faerie problems. Like Luis does. Maybe even help faeries with faerie problems."

"You know I just made a very advantageous bargain predicated on the fact that no faerie wants to live in the city." He stopped and shook his head, realizing he was talking to the girl who solved the unsolvable puzzle. It was no use arguing with her. "What will you call your coffee shop?" he asked instead.

"Moon in a Cup. Maybe. I'm not sure. I was thinking that maybe I could move out of my grandmother's – spend half my time working in the shop and half my time in Faerie, with you. I mean, if you don't mind me being around."

He smiled at this, that she would be with him. Half the time anyway. He was a bit stung at the fact that she had added the last sentence. Of course he didn't mind when she was around – he loved it. But he supposed that she might need a reassurance after everything that had happen. "Like Persephone?"

"What?" She leaned in and skimmed her hand under the long woolen coat he was wearing, tracing his spine. His breath hitched involuntarily at the feel of her soft, warm hand tracing his back.

He let his head fall on her shoulders lightly and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He told her the story mechanically, finding it hard to think.

"Like you're doomed to spend half your time dealing with the Bright Court and half with the Night Court?" she asked after he had finished.

Roiben laughed at her perceptiveness. "Very like."

Kaye looked to the far shore. She suddenly slipped out his arms and whirled on the beach. She let out an exhilarated laugh and spun faster, hair blowing around her face, which glowed with happiness, simple and pure. Her black hair was a contrast against the white of the ground, and her arms were outstretched. His mind darted back to his earlier thoughts. _Freedom._

Kaye looked happy and innocent and _free. _Free from masters, free from troubles, free from burdens or responsibilities. Not tied down to a single thing, not restricted at all. As free as a bird, she was soaring in her own little world.

As he looked at the moon shine down on her smiling face, he saw its light anew. It was no longer cold and unforgiving, but calm and peaceful and serene.

"You still haven't told me," he reminded her softly, unable to resist asking but speaking quietly, afraid to ruin the perfection before him.

She stopped in front of him suddenly. "Told you what?"

He grinned. "How you managed to complete the quest. How you claimed to be able to lie."

"Oh. It's simple." She let herself fall back onto the snowy beach, and looked up at him. He couldn't help but let out a surprised laugh at the cleverness of the words she spoke next.

"This is me," she said mischievously as she reached out with one hand. "This is me lying."

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**The end! Please review and tell me your thoughts (flames welcome).**

**I was going to continue with scenes from Tithe, but I don't have enough reviews to do so. If I get more, I'll continue this fic, but for now, I don't think I'll be continuing.**

**Who knows, though. That might change. :)**

**Luv2read**


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